In modern high-end audio and home theater systems audio cables—interconnect cables, used to connect various components such as a CD player and an amplifier and loudspeaker cables, used to connect loudspeakers to the amplifier—are playing a major role, substantially affecting the listening experience of audiophiles and, therefore, the overall performance of the high-end system. As a result, the manufacture of high-end audio cables has developed into a multi-million dollar per year industry.
Using state of the art electrical engineering knowledge of transmission-line characteristics and, in particular, LRC—inductance, resistance, and capacitance—values of cables it is impossible to explain that an experienced listener is able to perceive differences in the listening experience when listening to a same high-end audio system but using different audio cables for connecting the various components.
However, it is known that an experienced listener is able to perceive very subtle distortions of the phase coherence of an audio signal, which is caused by very subtle phase shift effects experienced by high frequency components of an audio signal while traveling through the cable affecting the harmonics and the envelope of the waveform of the audio signal.
Numerous attempts have been made in order to minimize the effects of the cable on the phase coherence of the transmitted audio signal using, for example, different shapes such as “flat ribbon” cables and different materials such as “oxygen free copper” and silver. Unfortunately, while improvements have been achieved there is still a need for reducing the effects of the audio cable on the phase coherence of the transmitted audio signal.
It would be desirable to provide an electrical transmission cable that substantially preserves the phase coherence of the signal transmitted therethrough.